County signs settlement agreement

Davidson County Board of Commissioners Chairman Fred McClure (left) reads a document while Alcoa Power Generating Inc. Yadkin Relicensing Manager Ray Barham looks on. With McClure's signature Thursday, Davidson County became the 24th group to sign the Relicensing Settlement Agreement, which outlines ecological, environmental and recreational requirements Alcoa would have to keep should it earn a new license to operate the various Yadkin Project dams.

Nash Dunn/The Dispatch

BY NASH DUNNThe Dispatch

Published: Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 6:48 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 6:48 p.m.

Davidson County Commissioner Fred McClure officially signed a settlement agreement Thursday between stakeholders of the Yadkin Project, including Alcoa Power Generating Inc.

The agreement, which also includes the signatures of the High Rock Lake Association, High Rock Business Owners Group, and 22 other federal agencies, local governments, homeowners and environmental interest groups, was initiated by Alcoa when it started its quest for a new license to operate dams along the Yadkin in 2006.

The Davidson County Board of Commissioners voted 4-3 in 2007 not to sign the agreement, which outlines ecological, environmental and recreational compromises between Alcoa and the other stakeholders.

However, the board reversed its decision in January, voting 5-2 to sign the agreement.

While nothing in the agreement has changed, McClure said the board's roster has been altered in recent years.

"We just realized we needed to have the partnership with Alcoa," McClure said.

Alcoa's application for a new, 50-year license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is currently on hold, as the corporation has yet to receive a required water quality certificate from the state. Alcoa initially received the certificate in 2009, but it was later revoked after the state Division of Water Quality said the company submitted inaccurate data.

After first appealing the revocation, Alcoa submitted a new application for the water quality certificate in September 2012. The application process can take up to one year.

If the application is approved, Alcoa will notify FERC and it will take action within nine to 12 weeks, said Ray Barham, Alcoa's Yadkin Project relicensing manager.

"We would expect them to issue the license by the end of the year," Barham said.

Alcoa, based in Pittsburgh, used the Yadkin's dams since World War I to supply electricity to a riverside aluminum plant that once employed about 1,000 people. The plant closed about a decade ago, and Alcoa now sells the electricity to commercial customers.

Several state officials, including former Govs. Mike Easley and Bev Perdue, have openly opposed Alcoa continuing to generate energy and profits now that the jobs are gone. New Republican Gov. Pat McCrory hasn't yet announced his position.

Other state lawmakers, like Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus, argued that the entire issue is about public benefit, something Hartsell said the corporation does not provide any longer. During a Uwharrie Regional Resources Commission meeting last year, Hartsell went even further to argue, "the state owns the beds of the rivers and the waters entrusted to the public as a whole."

"What is the public benefit related to a private operation that benefits from the waters for private gain?" Hartsell said.

Following Hartsell's comments, a report prepared by the state's Program Evaluation Division found that North Carolina gained ownership to submerged lands under navigable waters by taking them from King George III after the Revolutionary War.

In addition, a report released by a nonprofit sustainable economic development group said the state could make anywhere from $747 million to $1.2 billion in hydropower revenues if it retained the same federal license Alcoa is seeking. State management would also result in about 350 to 557 more permanent jobs, paying between $17 and $28 million in additional wages, according to the report.

Davidson County Commissioners Larry Potts and Don Truell voted against the county signing on to the licensing agreement, which was submitted to FERC as part of Alcoa's license application.

Truell said he wanted a chance to read the document.

"The only thing that I had to go on, at that time, was the instance when we first talked this a few years ago," Truell said. "At that time, the commissioners were in favor of holding Alcoa to the fire and getting something done, and it seems like they changed their minds. Why they changed their minds, I don't know."

Former Davidson County Commissioners and active members of the Uwharrie Regional Resources Commission, Max Walser and Cathy Dunn, were opposed to the board signing the agreement.

"The reason I was opposed was because I felt like we would be acquiescing and agreeing to letting Alcoa get another license for another 50 years," said Walser, who chairs the Uwharrie Regional Resources Commission. "I think it's a mistake to give Alcoa a license for 50 years."

Walser said his interest is protecting local waters for his grandchildren, waters he thinks will be very valuable in the future.

"I want residents in Davidson County and up and down the Yadkin River Basin to control our own destinies," Walser said. "I don't want any corporations deciding that."

Dunn, appointed to the commission in January, said most Uwharrie commissioners don't oppose the actual compromises that were reached in the settlement agreement. However, supporting Alcoa and its new license is a whole different matter.

"If the state were to get the license, the agreement would be honored, and the water would generate power, revenue, income, and jobs for many and many people, for a long time," Dunn said. "In the end, the water belongs to the people of north Carolina, not a private company."

The next Uwharrie Regional Resources Committee meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10, at the Catawba College Center for the Environment in Salisbury.

The Division of Water Quality will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16 at the Stanly County Commissioners Meeting Room in Albemarle on the issuance of a 401 Water Quality Certification to Alcoa.

Nash Dunn can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 227, or at nash.dunn@the-dispatch.com.

<p>Davidson County Commissioner Fred McClure officially signed a settlement agreement Thursday between stakeholders of the Yadkin Project, including Alcoa Power Generating Inc.</p><p>The agreement, which also includes the signatures of the High Rock Lake Association, High Rock Business Owners Group, and 22 other federal agencies, local governments, homeowners and environmental interest groups, was initiated by Alcoa when it started its quest for a new license to operate dams along the Yadkin in 2006.</p><p>The Davidson County Board of Commissioners voted 4-3 in 2007 not to sign the agreement, which outlines ecological, environmental and recreational compromises between Alcoa and the other stakeholders.</p><p>However, the board reversed its decision in January, voting 5-2 to sign the agreement.</p><p>While nothing in the agreement has changed, McClure said the board's roster has been altered in recent years. </p><p>"We just realized we needed to have the partnership with Alcoa," McClure said. </p><p>Alcoa's application for a new, 50-year license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is currently on hold, as the corporation has yet to receive a required water quality certificate from the state. Alcoa initially received the certificate in 2009, but it was later revoked after the state Division of Water Quality said the company submitted inaccurate data.</p><p>After first appealing the revocation, Alcoa submitted a new application for the water quality certificate in September 2012. The application process can take up to one year.</p><p>If the application is approved, Alcoa will notify FERC and it will take action within nine to 12 weeks, said Ray Barham, Alcoa's Yadkin Project relicensing manager.</p><p>"We would expect them to issue the license by the end of the year," Barham said.</p><p>Alcoa, based in Pittsburgh, used the Yadkin's dams since World War I to supply electricity to a riverside aluminum plant that once employed about 1,000 people. The plant closed about a decade ago, and Alcoa now sells the electricity to commercial customers.</p><p>Several state officials, including former Govs. Mike Easley and Bev Perdue, have openly opposed Alcoa continuing to generate energy and profits now that the jobs are gone. New Republican Gov. Pat McCrory hasn't yet announced his position.</p><p>Other state lawmakers, like Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus, argued that the entire issue is about public benefit, something Hartsell said the corporation does not provide any longer. During a Uwharrie Regional Resources Commission meeting last year, Hartsell went even further to argue, "the state owns the beds of the rivers and the waters entrusted to the public as a whole."</p><p>"What is the public benefit related to a private operation that benefits from the waters for private gain?" Hartsell said.</p><p>Following Hartsell's comments, a report prepared by the state's Program Evaluation Division found that North Carolina gained ownership to submerged lands under navigable waters by taking them from King George III after the Revolutionary War. </p><p>In addition, a report released by a nonprofit sustainable economic development group said the state could make anywhere from $747 million to $1.2 billion in hydropower revenues if it retained the same federal license Alcoa is seeking. State management would also result in about 350 to 557 more permanent jobs, paying between $17 and $28 million in additional wages, according to the report.</p><p>Davidson County Commissioners Larry Potts and Don Truell voted against the county signing on to the licensing agreement, which was submitted to FERC as part of Alcoa's license application.</p><p>Truell said he wanted a chance to read the document.</p><p>"The only thing that I had to go on, at that time, was the instance when we first talked this a few years ago," Truell said. "At that time, the commissioners were in favor of holding Alcoa to the fire and getting something done, and it seems like they changed their minds. Why they changed their minds, I don't know."</p><p>Former Davidson County Commissioners and active members of the Uwharrie Regional Resources Commission, Max Walser and Cathy Dunn, were opposed to the board signing the agreement.</p><p>"The reason I was opposed was because I felt like we would be acquiescing and agreeing to letting Alcoa get another license for another 50 years," said Walser, who chairs the Uwharrie Regional Resources Commission. "I think it's a mistake to give Alcoa a license for 50 years."</p><p>Walser said his interest is protecting local waters for his grandchildren, waters he thinks will be very valuable in the future.</p><p>"I want residents in Davidson County and up and down the Yadkin River Basin to control our own destinies," Walser said. "I don't want any corporations deciding that."</p><p>Dunn, appointed to the commission in January, said most Uwharrie commissioners don't oppose the actual compromises that were reached in the settlement agreement. However, supporting Alcoa and its new license is a whole different matter.</p><p>"If the state were to get the license, the agreement would be honored, and the water would generate power, revenue, income, and jobs for many and many people, for a long time," Dunn said. "In the end, the water belongs to the people of north Carolina, not a private company."</p><p>The next Uwharrie Regional Resources Committee meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10, at the Catawba College Center for the Environment in Salisbury.</p><p>The Division of Water Quality will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16 at the Stanly County Commissioners Meeting Room in Albemarle on the issuance of a 401 Water Quality Certification to Alcoa.</p><p>Nash Dunn can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 227, or at nash.dunn@the-dispatch.com.</p>